Tigo’s Chief Technical and Information Officer (CTIO) Jerome Albou, said the schools will receive digital education materials to enhance the learning experience of students and prepare them to be part of the global digital village.

“We are living in a digital world and Tigo e-schools project is equipping students to be part of the digital world,” Albou said, while revealing the new initiative in Arusha yesterday.

The CTIO said when handing over learning resources to Arusha Secondary School that the 50 secondary schools previously had been provided with computers and internet connection by Tigo. Other secondary schools in Arusha that have benefitted from the e-schools project are Arusha Day and Ilbouru.

In 2016, Tigo entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure to facilitate the roll-out of internet access points in the country’s secondary schools to complement the government’s e-schools project for a period of two years.

As part of the agreement, the ministry identified and provided a list of schools without computer labs to be connected and also guided the implementation of the project.

Tigo sponsored the infrastructural development in the schools across the country, including wiring classrooms and installation of wireless Local Area Network (LAN) with internet access points.

The third phase of this project is the current installation of learning materials that students can access directly from the computer labs, thus digitising their learning experience.

“We are now implementing the government’s vision to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy by the year 2025. Our company is committed to ensure that most of the secondary schools have access to the internet in Tanzania and also to learning materials so that they can be amply prepared for opportunities that come with the digital transformation that is currently sweeping the globe”, Tigo’s CTIO said.

Other secondary schools that will benefit from the project are Mwanza, Pamba and Mirongo Secondary Schools in Mwanza Region; Tabora Girls and Milambo Secondary Schools in Tabora; and Mpwapwa Secondary School in Dodoma.

Others are Iringa and Kleruu in Iringa region; Matalawe and Songea Girls in Songea Region; Njombe and Mpechi in Njombe region; Morogoro Municipal and Mzumbe in Morogoro; and Handeni and Shemsanga in Tanga.

Other are Lyamungo and Machame Girls in Moshi; Newala Day and Masasi Day in Mtwara while in Dar es Salaam the schools to benefit include Mbagala, Kibamba, Benjamin Mkapa and Makumbusho.

“Tigo is proud to be partnering with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure and the schools to enable youth and wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge, where they will learn, expand their creativity and collaborate with peers across the world,” Albou said.

The e-schools project is one of Tigo’s strategic social investment projects and to date the telecom has connected over 60 public secondary schools with internet and provided 77 computers to secondary and higher learning institutions across the country.